Online Grocery Shopping Use Varies Widely Across Different Consumer Segments

APRIL 3, 2019, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, April 3, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Retail Feedback Group (RFG), a leader in providing actionable stakeholder feedback, today released the 2019 U.S. Supermarket Digital & Social Engagement Study.

Digital Interaction with Supermarkets Strengthening
More than six out of ten (63%) of supermarket shoppers interact with their supermarket digitally, up from the 56% found in 2017. More than half check a digital circular (55%), while smaller percentages are building grocery lists (47%), researching special promotions (44%), getting recipes (25%), getting nutritional advice (11%) and reading blogs (9%).

Online Grocery Shopping Use Varies
Nationally, the results indicate that 12% overall are engaging with their supermarket to order groceries online for pickup or delivery. Use varies widely, however, by market area with greater adoption in urban areas (18%) versus smaller towns/rural areas (7%), as well as generationally with Millennials showing higher use (18%) and Boomers much lower use (6%).

Brian Numainville, RFG Principal noted, “Shoppers continue to engage with their supermarket digitally in greater numbers, mainly checking a digital circular, building grocery lists or researching special promotions. Online shopping, while growing, shows a varied amount of use across different segments. The highest use was found in urban areas or large cities, among Millennials, among larger household sizes of three or more, and among shoppers with household incomes higher than $100,000.”

The Impact of Social Media Continues to Grow
While 85% of shoppers regularly follow one or more social media sites, just 30% are friends with/connected to their primary grocery store, up from 25% in 2017 but still showing a 55% opportunity gap. Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are the most regularly used channels across all shoppers, while Snapchat and Pinterest also show stronger adoption among Millennials. Further, Millennials show the greatest likelihood to alter behavior, such as purchasing a new food item or shopping at a new store, based on social media recommendations. In the past year, 41% of supermarket shoppers praised or complimented a good experience in a food store on social media while 22% complained. Of those who complained, 42% did NOT get a satisfactory or empathetic response.

Doug Madenberg, RFG Principal, observed, “Social media offers an opportunity to open a dialogue with shoppers. A large opportunity gap between shoppers using social media channels and connecting with their stores still exists. Especially alarming is the fact that four out of ten shoppers who complained about a poor experience in their supermarket on social media did not receive a satisfactory or empathetic response. This finding presents an opportunity area for retailers to examine more closely, as every opportunity to address an issue for a shopper should be taken seriously.”

Grocery retailers, food distributors and media outlets can obtain a free copy of the full report or request an interview/presentation of the results from the principals of Retail Feedback Group at report@retailfeedback.com. The study is based on a nationally representative study of 1,200 supermarket shoppers.

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About The Retail Feedback Group
The Retail Feedback Group (RFG) offers a broad spectrum of research, consumer insight and consulting services. Its flagship program, Constant Customer Feedback (CCF), is the first automated feedback platform specifically designed and introduced for supermarket retailers and is currently implemented in hundreds of locations across the United States. Other key RFG services include employee engagement and culture assessments, customer satisfaction surveys, consumer research and market analysis. For more information visit and follow RFG on Twitter @TheFeedbackGrp.

Brian Numainville
The Retail Feedback Group
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